Monday Open Line


The first disc-type phonograph record was demonstrated publicly on this date in 1888. The invention of Emile Berliner of Washington, D.C. was called a gramophone and used a flat disc of grooves to reproduce sound, rather than the cylinders of the day. These proved easier to duplicate for the mass market. In 1899, 151,000 phonograph players were manufactured. That number rose steadily to over 4 million just a half century ago. The advent of the compact disc in the early 1980s began the erosion of the vinyl disc and turntable dominance in recorded music. Although vinyl has always had aficionados, and is enjoying something of a comeback, in 2014, only 55,000 turntables were sold in the U.S. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.